Thanking each leader individually on the micro-blogging platform, Mamata Banerjee showed her gratitude and thanked them for their warm wishes
The Supreme Court refused to put a hold on the appointment of two Election Commissioners – Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu – whose names were finalised yesterday. The court will hear the matter on Thursday.
Former IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had been picked by a selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Gyanesh Kumar retired as secretary of the cooperation ministry in February, while Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, was former Chief Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand.
Mr Sandhu, a 1988 batch IAS officer, retired from the post of Chief Secretary on January 31, 2024.
The vacancies had come up in the Election Commission (EC) after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8.
The poll panel is headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.
The dates for the 2024 general elections for the Lok Sabha, along with four state assemblies, will be announced at 3pm tomorrow.
The term of the present Lok Sabha ends on June 16 and a new House has to be constituted before that.
Last time the Lok Sabha polls were announced on March 10 and held in seven phases beginning April 11. Votes were counted on May 23.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a stunning video captured by Starship of its reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere as it finished its first successful flight through space on Thursday – its third attempt.
The footage shared by Musk on X showed the “super hot plasma field grow” – a red hot flame enveloping the spacecraft – as Starship prepared to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere a little over 46 minutes into its flight.
Temperatures hit north of 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit as the craft made its re-entry.
Elon Musk captioned the video: “Watch the super hot plasma field grow as Starship re-enters the atmosphere!”
Watch the super hot plasma field grow as Starship re-enters the atmosphere! pic.twitter.com/to4UOF2Kpd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2024
As the craft nears the Earth, loud cheers at the SpaceX headquarters almost overpowered the commentary.
But it all went south after this as radio communication with the Starship went blank. The spacecraft is lost, SpaceX announced later.
This is the first-of-its-kind re-entry footage as the previous ones were captured by the crew from inside the cabin.
It is extremely difficult to relay data home through such heated plasma fields. But Starship managed using SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, SpaceX said.
“Reliable high-speed, low-latency internet around the world – even while traveling at 27,000 km/h through a plasma field,” Starlink wrote on X, sharing the video of Starship’s reentry.
The craft managed to send imagery till a little over 48 minutes after launch. It descended to an altitude of 77 km – the last footage showed.
Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, flew further and faster than it ever did after taking off on Thursday – its third test flight. But it was eventually lost as it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, SpaceX said.